Apologizing for Simply Existing

I was crossing the street in a small town one day, walking towards the entrance to a restaurant. A lone man was standing in front of the restaurant, between me and the door but at least five feet away from it. There was plenty of room for me to pass by him. Nonetheless, as I approached the area where he stood, he stepped away and said “Sorry” as I passed by. I cannot imagine why he was sorry unless he judged from my facial expression or demeanour that I was suffering in some way because of something he had done.

There were at least three body widths between us and he had not been blocking my path. He was being neither unpleasant nor threatening, nor was he disturbing me in any way, so he had no reason to excuse himself. Yet this nice man not only moved but also apologized as he did so. If he had been unpleasant, blocked my way, or called me names I would have wished for him to be nice, but that was not the case. The man apologized simply for being there.